Printing machine

ABSTRACT

The bearings of a printing roller of a printing machine, preferably of a flexoprinting machine, with at least one counter-pressure cylinder and with at least one printing roller, which on one end is taper bore mounted in the frame, are conveyable in guideways relative to the counter-pressure cylinder. A bearing is provided for underpropping the shaft extension of the free end of the printing roller. In order to be able to slide the enveloping sleeve off and/or the adapter sleeve off of the printing roller in a simple manner, two shafts are mounted to be longitudinally displaceable and rotatable in the bearing block in which the printing roller is taper bore mounted, parallel to the center line of the printing roller, said shafts carrying on their inner ends, which are oriented toward the printing roller, radial arms with end face thrust pieces. The shafts are rotatably mounted on their outer ends in a carrier bracket and are provided with a rotary drive. The carrier bracket is provided with a drive that makes it conveyable relative to the bearing block.

The invention concerns a printing machine, preferably a flexoprintingmachine, with at least one counter-pressure cylinder and with at leastone printing roller fitted with one adapter sleeve and/or with oneenveloping sleeve, wherein the bearings of the printing roller areconveyable in guideways relative to the counter-pressure cylinder and abearing is provided to underprop the shaft extension of the free end ofthe printing roller.

Such a printing machine, for example, is known from the German patent DE197 05 369 A1, in which the bearing block with the underprop bearing forthe printing roller is conveyable in the printing machine frametransverse to the printing roller, so that the taper bore mountedprinting roller is clearly accessible from one side, for example,through a window on the side stand of the printing machine frame, sothat an enveloping sleeve and/or an adapter sleeve for the envelopingsleeve can be pushed out and fitted on.

For example, in order to separate enveloping sleeves covered withcliches and/or adapter sleeves from one another, and/or to push them offof a printing roller and then to be able to slide them back on again, itis known, for example, from the German patents DE 198 46 677 A1 and DE200 10 068 A1, that said enveloping sleeves and/or adapter sleeves canbe hydraulically expanded or contracted by the use of compressed air. Inspite of the possibility of expanding the enveloping sleeves and/oradapter sleeves for the purpose of fitting them on and off, considerablemeans of force are expended to this end.

The task of the invention is therefore to create a printing machine ofthe type described in the introduction, in which the enveloping sleeveand/or the adapter sleeve can be pushed off from the printing roller ina simple manner.

In accordance with the invention, this task is resolved in that, for thepurpose of changing the relative position of the adapter sleeve and/orof the enveloping sleeve and of the printing roller in the bearingblock, in which the printing roller is taper bore mounted, parallel tothe center line of the printing roller, there is at least one shaft, butpreferably there are two shafts, mounted to be longitudinallydisplaceable and rotatable, said shafts carrying radial gripping arms ontheir inner ends that are oriented toward the printing roller.

The radial arms are purposefully provided with thrust pieces on the endfaces.

The shafts can be rotatably supported on their outer ends by a carrierbracket and can be provided with a rotary drive.

The carrier bracket is purposefully provided with a drive for thepurpose of making it slide relative to the bearing block.

The task described above is thereby resolved in the case of a printingmachine, preferably of a flexoprinting machine, with at least onecounter-pressure cylinder and with at least one printing roller, whichon one end is taper bore mounted in the frame, wherein the bearings ofthe printing roller are conveyable in guideways relative to thecounter-pressure cylinder and a bearing is provided to underprop theshaft extension of the free end of the printing roller, in that, inaccordance with the invention, in the bearing block in which theprinting roller is taper bore mounted, parallel to the sleeve line ofthe printing roller, two shafts are mounted to be longitudinallydisplaceable and rotatable, which carry on their inner ends that areoriented toward the printing roller radial arms with end face thrustpieces, that the shafts are mounted on their outer ends to be rotatablein a carrier bracket and are provided with a rotary drive, and that thecarrier bracket is provided with a drive that makes it conveyablerelative to the bearing block.

In the printing machine in accordance with the invention, after thewithdrawal of the underprop bearing from under the free end of the taperbore mounted printing roller, an enveloping sleeve and/or an adaptersleeve can be pushed off from said printing roller in a simple manner,in that the thrust pieces are brought into an appropriate emplacement onthe end zones of the enveloping sleeve and/or of the adapter sleeve byaxial traverse and radial swing, so that subsequently, by axial traverseof the thrust pieces relative to the printing roller, the envelopingsleeve and/or the adapter sleeve can be pushed off of the printingroller.

Advantageously, the rotary drive comprises a piston cylinder pressuremedium unit whose cylinder and piston rod are respectively linked on theends of the radial levers of the shafts. In this fashion, the radiallevers are endowed with a clamp-like opening or closing movement in asimple manner.

Preferably, the drive conveying the carrier bracket in the axialdirection relative to the printing roller comprises at least one pistoncylinder pressure medium unit whose ends engage down on the carrierbracket and on the bearing block.

According to a further developed embodiment of the invention, it isprovided that a piston cylinder pressure medium unit with a short strokecylinder and a piston cylinder pressure medium unit with a long strokecylinder are coupled with one another and the outer faces are connectedto the carrier bracket on the one side and to the bearing block on theother side. In this design, the short stroke cylinder serves to applythe thrust pieces in the proper position on the enveloping sleeve and/oron the adapter sleeve, and the long stroke cylinder serves to push offthe enveloping sleeve and/or the adapter sleeve from the printing rollerand given the case, to also fit them on.

To facilitate a mode of construction that is as short as possible, thelong stroke cylinder is purposefully mounted in a bore on the bearingblock.

The thrust pieces are purposefully adapted to the form of the envelopingsleeve and/or of the adapter sleeve to be pushed off of the printingroller.

For pushing off and also for fitting on the enveloping sleeve or theadapter sleeve on to the printing roller, the enveloping sleeve can beprovided with an annular T-slot on its end zone oriented toward thebearing block, upon which the printing roller is taper bore mounted, andthe thrust pieces can be provided with keys that engage into thisannular T-slot.

An exemplary embodiment of the invention is more closely detailed by wayof a drawing in the following. Shown there in

FIG. 1A side view of a side stand of a flexoprinting machine in whichthe bearing blocks of a printing roller and of an anilox roller aremounted, which are adjustable in terms of one another and in terms of acounter-pressure cylinder.

FIG. 2A top view of a printing roller that is taper bore mounted in aside stand with a removed underprop bearing and with a device forpushing off an enveloping sleeve and/or an adapter sleeve from theprinting roller, in schematic representation.

FIG. 3A section through the printing roller along line III-III in FIG. 2and

FIG. 4A through D various positions of thrust pieces that are orientableand movable in the axial direction relative to the enveloping sleevesand/or the adapter sleeves to be pushed off.

In FIG. 1, a side view can be seen of the one front side stand out oftwo overhanging side stands 1 that are joined to the printing machineframe, which are provided with windows forming cutouts 2, in whoseproximity the bearing blocks 4, 5 of a printing roller 6 and of ananilox roller 7 are mounted on guide rails 3 to be conveyable in such amanner, that the anilox roller 7 next to the printing roller 6 can beadjusted in terms of its proximity or distance to the latter and theprinting roller 6 can be adjusted by itself or together with the aniloxroller 7 in terms of relative distance to the counter-pressure cylinder8. Both of the bearing blocks 4 for the printing roller 6 are conveyableby means of spindle drives 9. The drives for the bearing blocks 5 of theanilox roller are not represented.

As shown in FIG. 2, the printing roller 10 is taper bore mounted in abearing block 11, which is conveyably guided on guide rails 3′ in therear side stand 1′. The front shaft extension 12 of the printing roller10 is mounted in an underprop bearing 13 during the printing operation,which is removed from the shaft extension 12 in the position shown inFIG. 2 and conveyed off to the side, so that the printing roller and theenveloping sleeve 14 mounted on said printing roller and the adaptersleeve 15 carrying said enveloping sleeve are freely accessible throughthe window 2 of the front side stand 1. The type of bearing arrangementfor the shaft extension 12 of the printing roller 10 in the underpropbearing 13 and the release of the shaft extension 12 from the underpropbearing 13 and the lateral conveyance of this underprop bearing areknown in the German patents DE 197 05 369 A1, to which reference shallbe made for a more detailed representation.

In the bearing block 11, beneath the printing roller 10, are the shafts17, 18, parallel to one another and distanced apart and guided to belongitudinally displaceable and rotatable, and mounted symmetrically ona vertical plane, intersecting the center line of the printing roller10. Tong-like radial arms 20 are unrotatably secured on the front ends19 of the shafts 17, 18 penetrating the bearing block 11, whose freelyupward projecting ends carry jaws in the form of thrust pieces 21.

The back ends of the shafts 17, 18 are rotatably mounted in aplate-shaped carrier bracket 22, but are axially undisplaceable. On therear shaft extensions of the shafts 17, 18, penetrating the carrierbracket 22, are radial levers 23 unrotatably secured, on whose free endsthe cylinder 24 is mounted on the one side and the piston rod 25 on theother, both of a piston cylinder pressure medium unit. Secured on thecarrier bracket 22 is the short stroke cylinder 26 of a piston cylinderpressure medium unit, whose piston rod 27 is connected by a couplingpiece 28 to the piston rod 29 of a long stroke cylinder 30 of a pistoncylinder pressure medium unit, said long stroke cylinder being securedin a bore 31 of the bearing block 11.

The jaws or the thrust pieces 21 carry padded or cushioning pieces 22 ontheir ends that serve for the gentle emplacement of the thrust pieces onthe enveloping sleeve 14 or on the adapter sleeve 15.

In the position shown in FIG. 4B, the thrust piece 21 is positioned onthe forward front face of the adapter sleeve 15 based on thecorresponding outward extension of the short stroke cylinder 26 and thehorizontal swing of the arms 20, so that upon activation of the longstroke cylinder 30, the adapter sleeve 15 can be pushed off from theprinting roller 12. FIG. 4B shows the part that is encircled on theright side in FIG. 2.

FIGS. 4A, C and D show the modes of operation for the part that isencircled on the left side in FIG. 2.

In accordance with FIG. 4C, the cushioning part 22 of the thrust piece21 is only applied to the front face of the enveloping sleeve 14, sothat initially only the enveloping sleeve can be pushed off from theadapter sleeve 15. The specially designed thrust piece 21 in accordancewith FIG. 4 C is provided with an offset 35, which impacts against aring-shaped shoulder 36 of the adapter sleeve 15 and thereby pushes saidadapter sleeve from the printing roller 10, if the enveloping sleeve hasalready been somewhat pushed from the adapter sleeve 15 by apredetermined distance. This type of step-wise pushing off facilitateshandling operations, if the adapter sleeve has been pushed off from theprinting roller together with the enveloping sleeve, because then theenveloping sleeve can be more easily removed from the adapter sleeve.

In the exemplary embodiment in accordance with FIG. 4D, the envelopingsleeve 14 is provided with an annular T-slot into which the wedge-shapedesigned cushioning piece 22 of the thrust piece 21 engages, so that theenveloping sleeve 14 alone is pushed off from the adapter sleeve 15 oralso, so that said enveloping sleeve can be fitted over said adaptersleeve.

In accordance with the exemplary embodiment as per FIG. 4A, the thrustpiece is provided with a sensor, for example with an optical sensor 37,which detects a mark applied on to the enveloping sleeve, so that therotational position of the enveloping sleeve can be registered for theprint run.

The side registration of the printing mechanism can also be used foradaptation in cases where the short stroke cylinder 26 should notsuffice for the adaptation of the thrust pieces 21 on to the envelopingsleeves or adapter sleeves.

1. Printing machine, preferably flexoprinting machine with at least onecounter-pressure cylinder (8) and with at least one printing roller (10)fitted with an adapter sleeve (15) and/or with an enveloping sleeve(14), wherein the bearings of the printing roller (10) are conveyable inguideways relative to the counter-pressure cylinder (9) and a bearing(13) is provided to underprop the shaft extension (12) of the free endof the printing roller (10), thus characterized, that, for the purposeof a relative change in the position of the adapter sleeve (15) and/orof the enveloping sleeve (14) and of the printing roller in the bearingblock (11), in which the printing roller (10) is taper bore mounted,parallel to the center line of the printing roller (10), at least oneshaft, but preferably two shafts (17, 18), are mounted to belongitudinally displaceable and rotatable, said shafts carrying radialgripping arms (20) on their inner ends that are oriented toward theprinting roller (10).
 2. Printing machine in accordance with claim 1,thus characterized that the radial arms (20) are provided with end facethrust pieces (21).
 3. Printing machine in accordance with claim 1, thuscharacterized that the shafts (17, 18) are rotatably mounted in acarrier bracket (22) at their outer ends and are provided with a rotarydrive.
 4. Printing machine in accordance with claim 3, thuscharacterized that the carrier bracket (22) is provided with a drive forsliding it relative to the bearing block (11).
 5. Printing machine,preferably flexoprinting machine, with at least one counter-pressurecylinder (8) and with at least one printing roller (10), which is taperbore mounted in the frame (1) on one end, wherein the bearings of theprinting roller (10) are conveyable in guideways relative to thecounter-pressure cylinder (9) and one bearing (13) is provided tounderprop the shaft extension (12) of the free end of the printingroller (10), thus characterized that, in the bearing block (11) in whichthe printing roller (10) is taper bore mounted, parallel to the centerline of the printing roller (10), two shafts (17, 18) are mounted to belongitudinally displaceable and rotatable, which carry radial arms (20)with end face thrust pieces (21) on their inner ends, said ends beingoriented toward the printing roller (10), that the shafts (17, 18) arerotatably mounted in a carrier bracket (22) on their outer ends and areprovided with a rotary drive and that the carrier bracket (22) isprovided with a drive that makes it conveyable relative to the bearingblock (11).
 6. Printing machine in accordance with claim 5, thuscharacterized that the rotary drive comprises a piston cylinder pressuremedium unit, whose cylinder (24) and whose piston rod (25) arerespectively linked to the ends of the radial levers (23) of the shafts(17, 18).
 7. Printing machine in accordance with claim 5, thuscharacterized that the drive conveying the carrier bracket (22) in theaxial direction relative to the printing roller (10) comprises at leastone piston cylinder pressure medium unit, whose ends engage down on thecarrier bracket (22) and on the bearing block (11).
 8. Printing machinein accordance with claim 7, thus characterized that a piston cylinderpressure medium unit with a short stroke cylinder (26) and a pistoncylinder thrust medium unit with a long stroke cylinder (30) are coupledwith one another and the outer faces of both piston cylinder thrustmedium units are connected to the carrier bracket (22) on the one sideand to the bearing block (11) on the other side.
 9. Printing machine inaccordance with claim 8, thus characterized that the long strokecylinder (30) is mounted in a bore (31) of the bearing block (11). 10.Printing machine in accordance with claim 5, thus characterized that thethrust pieces (21) are adapted to the form of the enveloping sleeve (14)and/or of the adapter sleeve (15) to be pushed off from the printingroller (10).
 11. Printing machine in accordance with claim 5, thuscharacterized that the enveloping sleeve (14) is provided with anannular T-slot on its end zone oriented toward the bearing block (11)upon which the printing roller (10) is taper bore mounted and the thrustpieces (21) are provided with keys that engage into this annular T-slot.